A blog about gaming with miniatures... and history, SF, fantasy and more

Wednesday, 9 August 2017

The Adventures of the Dice Bag Lady in the land of the Vikings – part II

Laffe
told me that he would take a cruise around the archipelago and by coincidence
the ship would pass the island (Lindskär = The Small Island with Linden Trees) where our summer house is. As I informed him
about that, and where the island is, he told me he and his guest would moon me
when they passed.

No moons to be seen. Laffe and Annie on the bridge (he's got connections, that guy)

I
was rather disappointed when they passed as no moons were seen. Lots of waving
though, and tooting. Pity, I really wanted a… more interesting… pic J

The
guest in question was none other than Annie “The Dice Bag Lady” Norman who had
decided to actually take a short (and well deserved) vacation and due to some
random internet guys she ended up in Sweden, being passed from gamer to gamer
like a trophy J

Laffe
picked her up at Arlanda Airport and then showed her the typically normal Swedish
moose-farms, beaver-juices, fika, genuine shield-maidens and the very real
beauty of the Stockholm archipelago. You can read all about it here,
in part I of Annie’s adventures.

End of the 1000 Island Cruise in the middle of Stockholm.

There they are. Laffe bragging about something ("It's this long, I promise!") and Annie feeling the effects of 15 cups of coffe topped with an Irish one...

She
wore him out, though, and, with a sigh of relief, he passed her on to me. We
went straight back to Lindskär for a closer look at nature (you
know, the green stuff on maps).

"Look at that! Antsies. I could make some minis of those. Guess I could sell at least a million of them. But what if I sneeze. Hmmm, maybe a kickstarter."

After
a nights rest we tried to impress her with our athletics with swimming (at
least 50 meters), snorkelling, rowing, walks in the woods on the adjacent island, spelunking (very short, like a
couple of meters) and mountain climbing (well, it was a hill).

"You're kidding me... no way I'm going in there... trolls, you know... please..."

"I'm alive! Ace!"

Annie escaped the horrors of the woods below and enjoys the view.

Wife, kids and Annie enjoying the view of the natural harbour Napoleonviken (Bay of Napoleon (no, he's never been there)

Coffe, I need coffe!

After
all that action Annie had her revenge when she unpacked Dobble and my brain promptly exploded (I actually won the first
game! Probably just to lure me in.)

My wife wants one of these. Probably just to see my brain melt...

Proof that Baggy's been to Lindskär.

After
that, and a fika
(yes, she’s an addict now) (and she brought some Fabulous Welsh Cake for the
occasion! Yummy!) my wife took us to the mainland with the boat and after a 30
minutes car ride we were at the gaming club.

Back to civilization! Yay!

Mikael Leck had
prepared (Thank you!) a game of his own The Pikeman’s Lament
where we (me, Annie and Thomas – neither of us had ever played the game!)
played the courageous Swedes fighting the evil and treacherous Norwegians
(under the command of three incredibly seasoned veterans of these rules – they were
obviously looking for an easy win).

General A. Norman (that sounds suspicously like norrman (Norwegan) and that could explain that last botched dice-roll that effectively ended the game... hmmm)

Swedes attacking. Hurra!

It
turned out to be a really even match, ending in a marginal victory for the
Norwegians. Just shows how incredibly accomplished gamers we are J Far to fun a set of
rules, though… might have to buy a copy and I’ve been eyeing some Swedish pikemen in
28mm… Argh!

A sensibly dressed female needing protection. Half the Swedish army is more than willing to help her.

It
was now time to give the trophy, I mean Annie, to Thomas for further adventures
in the woods around Nynäshamn, followed by a trip to the very deep woods south of
Södertälje where Koen and pikes live (well, the pikes live in a lake, obviously). More on that on their blogs, possibly.

Spoiler:
Annie is safely back in Wales, furiously packing orders and trying to detoxify
from all that caffeine. She will probably be able to sleep in just a week or so.

My rating system

5 - A masterpiece. You have to read/see/visit.4 - Really good. Strongly recommended it if it is a subject of interest, and probably worth reading/seeing/visiting if not.3 – It’s OK. If it’s a subject you’re interested in, it’s probably worth reading/seeing/visiting. Otherwise you can probably skip it.2 - Well, not really... If it’s your subject you could possibly find something in it worth your while. Otherwise stay clear.1 - Stay clear. This is a waste of your time.